Red Hat Sends C&D to DataPortability.org…Over Its Logo

Open source giant Red Hat sent a Cease and Desist letter to the DataPortability.org group today, the group says, demanding the removal of the DP logo from the group’s website.

Red Hat alleges that the infinity sign on the blue suitcase of DataPortability.org and the green and white infinity sign at the top of the site are “identical to the Fedora Infinity design logo owned by Red Hat.”

Since when can anyone own the symbol for infinity? Below are the logos in question, judge for yourself. At a time when scores of other, more conservative companies are joining the Data Portability Group, and on a day when Microsoft is committing to new levels of openness (which Red Hat, incidentally, received with “a healthy dose of skepticism“) – doesn’t a threat from Red Hat to sue seem a little strange?

Believe it or not, the above are not the logo for Red Hat’s Fedora product, the following is.

Ok, so if those look alike it’s because they all use the symbol for infinity. Red Hat isn’t going to claim to own the symbol for infinity, is it? A request for comment hasn’t been responded to yet, we’ll see if the company has anything more to say. Meanwhile, a discussion concerning how to respond has begun on the DataPortability.org mailing list.